Profit soars in 2013 at Housing Finance

By Capital FM, NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 19 – Housing Finance Group has posted a 34 percent growth in net profit for the full year 2013 which rose to Sh995.19 million form Sh743.33 million posted in 2012. Profit before tax jumped 63 percent to Sh1.48 billion from Sh907 million posted in 2012.

Customer deposits grew by Sh3.6 billion to Sh26.50 billion up from Sh22.93 billion posted in 2012 while loans and advances to customers grew by Sh5 billion to Sh35.21 billion.

Housing Finance Group Chief Executive officer Frank Ireri attributed the growth to the group’s two subsidiaries, Kenya Building Society and Housing Finance Insurance Agency who together contributed 18 percent to the Profit Before Tax (PBT).

Ireri said plans are underway to enter into joint ventures with county development corporations as well as establishing a property management company to offer clients a complete suite of financial products under one roof.
“We plan to deliver property and land rates solution and provide financing of utilities such as water,” he said.

The group is also seeking property opportunities in the Oil, Gas and Mining sector.

The group borrowed funds increased by 15 percent to Sh14.36 billion in 2013 from Sh12.09 billion in 2012 driven by funding from International Finance corporation (IFC) who credited Sh1.6 billion and Ghana International Bank(GHIB) crediting Sh850 million.

He projects 30 percent year on year growth on loans and 28 percent growth on deposits in 2014 proposing a dividend of Sh1.75 per share.

The group has developed its master plan for its 40 acres in Komorock and plans to deliver alternative building technology through market research.

“We recently launched EZESHA a product that provides financing of up to 105 percent of property value and we hope the product will increase the uptake of especially in the middle and lower end market,” he said.

Ireri said that the firm is currently studying the market to determine when to take the Sh20 billion bond that was recently approved by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to the market.

The group also launched its Forex products in October 2013 where the group’s financial products will be available to customers in Euro, Dollar or Pound.